VIBE Vixen, the female counterpart to VIBE magazine will fold its print operations after publishing its August/September issue.

A spokesperson for the bi-monthly glossy would not comment on the closing, except to say that it was due to falling circulation numbers. The magazine's Web site reports a current rate-base circulation of 425,000.

Just this year, Vixen upped its publication from two issues a year to six. A full-page color ad in Vixen cost $45,760. Publishers Information Bureauáreports 146.62 ad pages for the glossy in the first half of 2007.

Vixen will live on through its site and will be printed as a culture supplement in flagship magazine VIBE. Proposed frequency of these special printings has not been released.

The shuttering of Vixen comes less than two weeks after Vibe Media Group hired Steve Aaron as its new CEO. Aaron admitted in a press release that "some layoffs" would follow the Vixen closing.

Vibe Media Group, New York, publishes Vibe, an urban music and lifestyle magazine with an average paid circulation of 850,000. Other properties include Vibe.com, Comcast's Vibe Video-on-Demand channel, The Vibe Awards and wireless content service mVibe. Vibe Media group is an affiliate of The Wicks Group of Companies, LLC.

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